Comic of the Week: The Ultimates #12

Welcome back ladies and nerds. For the second edition of “Comic of the Week” I have chosen “The Ultimates #12” written by Sam Humphries and Jonathan Hickman with art by Luke Ross, Ron Garney and Butch Guice.

I am a big fan of the Ultimate universe for its gritty and “realistic” take on the heroes we know and love. I know many traditionalists have decided to shun this version of their favorite heroes, but I say give me more! As always I will do my best to avoid any spoilers. In case you are jumping in starting with this issue here is just a bit of back story.

Captain America has gone into retirement because he feels responsible for the death of Peter Parker. That leaves Iron Man, Thor and Hawkeye as the main players and of course the omnipresent Nick Fury. Catastrophic events are occurring all over the world and not enough heroes on hand to deal with them all. Oh, I forgot to mention all the Ultimates are also wanted fugitives by the United States of America.

***SPOILER ALERT***

It would be extremely hard to talk about this issue without mentioning Reed Richards has returned and that means bad things for The Ultimates since they were the ones who “killed” Reed the first time around. In this issue Reed continues to show he is willing to go to any lengths to do what he believes is right. He has created an entire society called “The City” that is superior in every way possible to our own. He is also extremely upset for being left in space, but then again who wouldn’t be.

Fast forward to this issue and we have hit the final chapter of the story. We finally get the showdown we have all been waiting for which pits genius versus genius when Reed and Tony Stark come face to face. This issue gives you a little bit of everything with great action scenes and a heck of a plot twist. You have Thor, Stark, Reed, Hulk and a few others I won’t mention here to avoid spoiling the story, doing battle on a grand scale.

If you ever asked yourself who would win in a battle of the minds between Stark and Richards you will get your answer in this book. Egos are abound and we even get to see the worlds first talking tumor. You read that correct, TALKING TUMOR! The back and forth banter between these two is worth the price of admission alone.

If you love the Ultimate universe like I do this issue is a must read. As always enjoy!